Legislators optimistic about university construction funding

Published 11:50 pm, Sunday, July 13, 2014

The 84th legislative session could bring good news for university construction funding, according to one West Texas lawmaker.

State Rep. Tom Craddick said he expects tuition revenue bonds will be funded during the next legislative session.

“I think the main thing is we’ve got a lot of excess money — not that people are looking to spend it — but I think the economy in the state is growing, the pressure is on the educational institutions to take more and more students, and in our area we need more engineers,” Craddick said. “I think every engineer that graduates can get a job. I think some of these (project requests) need to be fulfilled if Texas is going to continue to grow.”

State Sen. Kel Seliger, chair of the Higher Education Committee, said it’s too soon for him to say how the Legislature will act, but he intends to author a TRB bill if he remains chair.

“We’ll do one that’s as lean as possible, one that addresses the future,” Seliger said. “I’m always optimistic because I think it’s the right thing to do, but it will also be a lot of money, so it won’t be without pretty lively discussion.”

The University of Texas System board of regents approved two University of Texas of the Permian Basin TRB requests at its Thursday meeting: a $60 million, 80,000-square-foot School of Engineering Building and an $8.45 million, 42,500-square-foot Kinesiology and Athletic Complex. For the latter project, $6.25 million would come from TRB funding.

Craddick said he supported the engineering building during the 2013 session, when it was slated to receive $48 million in the House of Representatives’ TRB bill. TRB bills passed in both the House and Senate, but lawmakers were unable to reconcile a final version, leaving Texas universities with unfulfilled requests. The Legislature has not funded any TRB requests since 2006.

“I think there’s a great need in the Permian Basin for an engineering school, and I think that’d be a great location where both communities can access it very easily,” Craddick said of the facility’s planned Midland Campus location.

UTPB’s requests aren’t the only TRB-funded projects planned for the Permian Basin.

Texas Tech University will request $17.82 million for a new academic facility at TTU Health Sciences Center’s Permian Basin campus, according to Dailey Fuller, TTU director of Communications and Marketing. TTUHSC also requested funding for the facility during the last session.

Seliger said the TRB he offered in the 83rd session included support for TTUHSC’s Permian Basin campus and UTPB’s engineering building.

Craddick said the lack of TRB funding in recent years has been problematic for universities, adding that now is the time for new construction.

“With low interest rates, it’s a time we ought to be building these buildings and expanding educational facilities in the state,” he said.

Seliger said putting construction on hold hasn’t been detrimental to universities’ abilities to meet their missions now, but TRB funding is about building for the future.

“Additional medical students coming into Odessa, and the growth of the engineering programs at UTPB — that mission will be aided by keeping up with future needs,” he said.

“The higher education process is very, very important. You don’t want to overstate the importance of buildings and facilities,” Seliger said. “But, you need to keep up with technology and growth. As Texas grows we’re going to have a lot more than the 1.5 million students currently in higher education.”

Craddick said it’s too soon to say how many projects will be funded and at what level, but he always hopes to see institutions get at least one request fulfilled.

TRB funding is not a partisan issue, and he expects both parties to vote based on the needs of each academic institution, he said.

Seliger said TRB bills received bipartisan support during the 83rd session, and he believes that would continue in the 84th Legislature because TRB funding would address many needs all around the state.

“But there will be detractors who think universities spend too much money and don’t spend it well,” he said. “It’s like everything else.”